UK NEWS

NATION OF RICHES BUT QUALITY OF LIFE SUFFERING

There are more mobiles than people in this country

Wednesday September 5,2007

By Sarah O'Grady

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(2)

QUALITY of life is sadly lacking in Britain even though we are the fifth richest country in the world.

Everyone else on Earth, it seems, wants to come here – yet we are only 17th in a league table showing how well we live.

We receive the third highest number of asylum applications in the world but the downside is that it puts massive pressure on public services like health and education.

The fascinating snapshot of life in the UK is revealed in the annual Pocket World In Figures which measures the economic strength of countries and their workers.

In many ways Britain is booming but there are negative aspects too. For example, home owners thrived as property prices soared 196 per cent between 1997 and 2006 – but this meant many people struggled to get on the housing ladder.

In other countries home prices soared even more. In South Africa they went up 351 per cent and in Ireland by 253 per cent.

When it comes to health, countries like Slovakia, Cuba and Belarus have more hospital beds, per 1,000 people, than the NHS. Britain is not in the top 40. Japan is top.

We also struggle to travel because we have some of the world’s most congested roads.

Britain is, however, shown to be a nation of surprises and extremes.

Music lovers in the UK spend more on music – £18 per head annually – than any other nationality. And we love our gadgets, but many other countries outstrip us in the hi-tech department.

While there are 109 mobile phones for every 100 Britons, we are only ninth in the world table. Luxembourg is top with a staggering 154 mobiles per 100 people.

The book looks at 183 countries and examines 200 categories.

Its editor, Stephen Brough, says: “A surprising find this year is that there are two countries where house prices have gone up by more than ours over the past decade.

“Another is that we spend the most per head on music.

“Despite concerns over binge drinking, we are not, per head, among the world’s biggest beer drinking nations.

“And our carbon emissions per person are less than half those of Americans.”

There are few tables in which the UK is top but we lead the world for attracting investment from foreign countries and London has the highest office rents of any city.

Surprisingly, the UK does not feature among the top 23 countries for sales of beer. The leaders there are the Czechs.

Life expectancy in the UK is predicted to be 79 years up to 2010 but this is only the 22nd highest. It is greatest in Andorra where people can, on average, expect to live to 83.

Pocket World In Figures is published by The Economist magazine.

OF COURSE WE'RE THE FIFTH RICHEST NATION !!

05.09.07, 6:47pm

I'm due an operation soon, and have been told to make sure i have someone at home to provide after care - a wife or relative or close freind !! Like i know a trained nurse, yeah?? Oh yes, i also HAVE to have someone to pick me up and DRIVE me home, or order a taxi, as i can't go by bus as public transport is deemed unacceptable !! --- So what category does a taxi come under????

Thats how money is saved to pay into the eu corruptionist communist state.

• Posted by: JAYDEE • Report Comment

NOT MANY SURPRISES

05.09.07, 2:52pm

There are very few surprises in this survey.

Personally I blame the high cost of houses partly on immigration and partly on buy-to-let. Is the government planning to do anything about either?

• Posted by: Camerton • Report Comment